I'm sure by now you've been at least teased with the notion that you can have salon results with the gel consumer products which are being pitched by Sally Hansen and all the rest of the consumer beauty products available in regular drugstores and consumer beauty supply outlets. They sound promising but how many women do you know, personally, that are actively doing their own gel nails and bragging about the results? None? That's what I thought. The reason could be that it's not a simple matter removing them, for one, even by the professional. It's so much easier to remove regular nail polishes that I wonder why women would bother with these products on their own once they know the inherent difficulties.
The so-called popularity is mostly a result of over-pitching product (i.e. keep repeating the product slogans and promises over and over again and I'm sure we'll sell hundreds of these kits!) and not placing professional services in their rightful place. The following link was actually intended for professionals to use but I can tell you from my many years of professional practice that I have never learned a single process I do (and they are myriad!) by watching a video. A good part of my knowledge attained outside of beauty college has been by attending professional shows and expos and signing up for training directly from the manufacturer's representatives who are, often, a working professional just like myself.
I have discovered that following a manufacturer's precise directions gets better results than asking consumers what works on their nails- as they blunder along in amateur video land. An individual's efforts could never take the place of professional experiential, tried and true results from those who make it their business to please hundreds upon hundreds of customers. Through the years, when I have worked on new clients, their experiences in DIY sessions (that they are willing to relate) have bordered on frustration, wasted time and cleaning up the mess they make- not just on their hands but their makeshift work areas.
Whether you're seeking an easy gel use- such as gel polish or going into actual gel veneers, which are longer-wearing and semi-permanent, you'll want to know a little bit more about what kind of product you're actually putting on your nails and why it has to be applied and removed a certain way. I do like the ease of gel application. It is odorless but not harmless because it is much more invasive than nail polish. I have found that the claim of no-chipping for modern day gels is erroneous in some cases. It depends on the state of the natural nails in question. Each person's nails are different and that is one of the reasons that I rarely diagnose a problem for a client (or potential client) without a one-on-one consultation session. If you have experienced a lot of chipping with regular polish for a period of time, gel will also chip. It's a difficult problem that can't be corrected with a different product. Often, a client has to go without using products on their nails until they're healthy again. I have a five step program for rehabilitating chip damaged nails.
The first gel product I worked with was veneers and extensions through Zotos Lightstrokes. They weren't completely odorless but they were pleasantly scented. As a three-coat application it imparted inner strength with outer durability and application was faster and longer-lasting than acrylics. I did this product for about five years with great success on select clients and then Zotos dropped the line entirely when consumers started buying a consumer product called Lume'.
I humored the women that thought they could do this procedure themselves and actually tried the product only because Lightstrokes was no longer available. I discovered that Lume' was a one layer gel which peeled off readily so I quit doing gel nails entirely. Acrylic was better than this hostess party gel product that gave millions of women the idea that they could do the work of a professional on themselves. I saw a few Lume' monstrosities for about a year and then saw them no more.
If the gel polish still seems like something you'd like to try, I will personally recommend going with CND Shellac instead at any salon which promotes and uses this product. The removal system is a snap for the professional and the product is wonderfully durable and lives up to its promises. If a salon advertises that they use Shellac and then divert you to some other product- run, do not walk out of the salon and make sure you're getting Shellac somewhere else. It's a superior product for the no-chip promise.
Only the best professional advice from
The Castle Lady
